RH 6.0 HTML freezes during Generate

[SteveU1]

I am new to RH and this forum. When attempting to generate WebHelp 508 Compliant, with MOTW, Glossary, Search and Index options, RH 6.0 hangs during the Generate WebHelp System portion of the process. Some files appear in the !SSL!\WebHelp folder before it freezes.

I have a sample project with only 4 topics, 3 Index keywords, and 3 Glossary Terms. I am running Windows 2000 on a PC with about 3GHz CPU and 1GB RAM. According to the Task Manager, memory and processor speed are not issues. Per directions in RH Help for improving generate time, I have disabled McAfee Virus Scan from on demand scanning of *.xpj with no effect. The freezing only seems to happen when the Search and/or Index options are checked but it consistently happens with several sample projects.

Please shed some light on this problem.

Regards - SteveU1

[SteveU1]

It would appear that the McAfee VirusScan Enterprise settings were not correct. I reinstalled RH6 and then changed the VirusScan settings. Contact your Network Admin before proceeding. The setting needing changing is located in the On-Access Scan properties. Select All Processes. On the Detection tab, click Exclusions. Click Add and select the By file type radio button. Enter "XPJ" in the field. Select the On Read and On Write checkboxes for "When to exclude" and click Ok. This also addressed extremely slow clearing of the output folder.

[Cro1410]

-snip-

[Guest]

wow - it would be a hoot if this turns out to be the solution to my v6 issues too.

[SteveU1]

As an important addendum, I learned later that the initial installation occurred using our system admin's account instead of my admin account. The reinstall corrected that issue. Nevertheless, for some reason, the issue persisted until the scan settings were also changed. Also, the extremely slow clearing of the output folder is still occurring and sometimes results in a hang. I've gotten into the habit of just deleting the contents of the WebHelp folder manually and then the generate process works withouth incident.

[SteveU1]

This issue was not resolved completely. Tested same project files on two Windows XP machines: one on a secure network; the other on my personal PC. My personal PC had no problems with the file generation. The secure network's project file froze and I can't do the job off network. I figure that its either antivirus software or some other conflict. Discovered two antivirus programs running: McAfee and IBM Proventia Desktop Endpoint Security. Checked both of their websites for reports of RH conflicts but found nothing. Proventia was then removed, under protest but all for a good cause. RH WebHelp then works. We check the security logs for Proventia. Don't know what we're looking for but nothing looked wrong. The IT guys tell me both programs are popular so how could I be the first to deal with this issue? I am left with the burden of proof that RH WebHelp generation is not a security risk. Does anyone know if and how RH's been naughty? - Thx

[Peter Grainge]

I wonder if you would get the same result if you uninstalled McAfee and left Provential installed? I thought most anti virus software companies advise not to install more than one system and not for anti competitive reasons.

[SteveU1]

Thanks for the feedback. Subsequent tests isolated the issue to RapApp.exe running which is a part of the IBM Proventia Desktop Endpoint Security suite. Because removing Proventia is not an option, is my best bet for resolution to log this as a bug or security issue?

[Peter Grainge]

Log it as a bug with whom? IBM or Adobe?

I wonder if your It guys can configure it in some way that does not cause this problem. Not one I have seen reported before so either others can work with it or you are one of a small number running RH and Proventia, which I would guess would not put it high on Adobe's list.

[MergeThis]

Can Proventia be configured on your machine to allow (not scan and attack) specific file types and/or folders?


Good luck,
Leon

[SteveU1]

MergeThis - I've been told by IT Security there is no way to exclude folders. It might not have helped anyway. I can go off network, generate the output and copy the completed exported files to the intended destination folder on the network without issue. There's something about the generation process itself that seems to be causing the issue.

[MergeThis]

You say: "I can go off network, generate the output ..."

You must:

1. Work the RH project on your local machine (no network, no shared drives, no virtual networks, etc., etc., etc.).
2. Generate your output to your local machine (same as above).
3. Publish to any network you like.

Anything else will keep you spinning your wheels, as has been documented in this forum over and over and over.


Good luck,
Leon

[SteveU1]

Sorry for the confusion. By "off network", I mean I can install RH on another machine off the network, generate the RH webhelp locally on that machine (the machine doesn't have Proventia installed) and it works. If I use the network machine, Proventia will not allow generation locally to that machine, let alone a network drive. Thanks though, I will keep your point in mind if generating to a network drive is proposed as a workaround.